Welcome dear reader to the fabulous world of folktales, this time with a selection of Greek folktales from the island of Lesvos.
Ranging from simple jests and anecdotes to stories of love, luck, deception, cleverness, and divine justice itself,
these tales tell of the marvelous, where the impossible, indeed, becomes the possible; a world of the wise and the foolish, the weird and the wonderful which, all combined, tell of things that happened once upon a time, yet surprisingly not so very long, long ago! (From the publisher)

Περιεχόμενα

Introduction
1. A Dog Changes His Mind
A fable about laziness
2. The Rooster, The Dog, And The Fox
Another fable. This time about cleverness
3. The Hundred-Year Old Vixen Whose Little One Was A Hundred And Ten
Another fable. Again about cleverness
4. The Fox Acts As Judge
A charming table: outfoxed by a foz
5. The Turtle and the Partridge
A fable. This time about beauty
6. Wheat And Corn
A fable: just because it looks good doesn't mean it tastes good
7. How Even The Devil Became Frightened Of Woman
How a poor man outwits the Devil with his stubborn wife
8. The Most Beautiful Bird
A tale of quest: the adventures of young Prince sent by his father the King to acquire a valuable object for their kingdom
9. The Golden Apples
A prince as a dragon-slayer hero who kills a dragon, saves a city, returns home, and marries a princess
10. The Girl Who Cured The Prince
A charming love story of a prince and a poor girl with a happy ending
11. The King and the Tzoutzes
A tale of magic and wonder: a poor fisherman is victimized by king who wants to take his beautiful wife away from him. With the help of the tzoutzes, he defeats the king and becomes king himself
12. The Two Brothers
The story of how a poor brother is victimized by rich brother is very old. Here their filial conflict is retold with the theme of "pen sesame" as motif
13. Both Father And Son Fall In Love With The Same Girl
A prince, the son of a king, falls in love with a beautiful girl. The king becomes jealous and seeks to kill him for the girl. After many battles, the prince survives and wins the girl for himself
14. The Little Mill, The Lambkin, And The Cane
An old man with the help of God corrects the thoughtless ways of his old woman
15. The Outcome Of Malice
A pious man, on spitting on thw Devil, suffers a like end
16. Better Poor And Free From Cares?
A poor man on becoming rich suddenly discovers his own worth
17. The Needy Girl Sells Her Dream
A poor girl, after being treated badly by a rich girl, marries the suitor and comes to live a happy life
18. I plugged it Up Myself!
Bad luck keeps a poor cobbler from finding work
19. They Went Reaping With Scissors
An obstinate wife comes to a bad end
20. Twenty Drachmas Makes The Fish Smaller
Greed keeps a fisherman from selling his fish
21. The Crafty Wife
A married woman manages to keep her lover away with a lullaby
22. The Starlet
How a husband cures his wife of being the village gossip
23. How A Lazy Woman Became Industrious
A husband humiliates his wife in public to make her a good housekeeper again
24. The Lisper
A husband gets his wife to speak despite of her being ashamed to do so
25. The Wives Of The Two Millers
A poor wife, granting to become rich, sells her virtue
26. The Secret Of The Tiller
A man learns from animals how to treat his obstinate wife
27. The Fart
There is nothing like a fart to make things lively
28. The Old Woman's Wish
Advice from strangers shouldn't always be ignored
29. She Got What She Deserved
The price an old woman had to pay for wanting to become rich
30. Suffering Wisened Him Up
After having been fooled, a young man learns to fool others as well
31. The Greedy Gypsy
Don't count your eggs before they have hatched
32. A Priest - A Man of God
A priest shows the way
Commentary

Collected by: Frosso M. Zourou
Retold in English by: Rom Gudas